Tree improvement 101 webinar series offers CEU credits in forest genetics

Inflorescences of red pine

Inflorescences of red pine. These are the immature pollen and seed cones of red pine. Breeders isolate the female conelets with an isolation bag before applying pollen for a controlled cross. USDA Forest Service photo by Carrie Pike.

Tree Improvement 101, a four-part webinar series exploring how forest genetics relates to tree improvement efforts, is archived and freely available with CEU credits available for New York Logger Training, Georgia Master Timber Harvester and Society of American Foresters. The series was held by the Eastern Region State, Private, and Tribal Forestry’s Reforestation, Nursery, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) team and hosted by Southern Regional Extension Forestry in April 2024.

Tree Improvement 101 was designed to address training needs for foresters who encounter tree improvement — interventions to support healthy, productive forests by fostering desirable traits in trees — as part of their work, but who lack formal training in applied forest genetics. Desirable traits can range from growth or height to a tree’s capacity to adapt to certain conditions or its resistance to diseases or pests.

Six more modules are being planned for fall 2024 on topics including seed zones/seed transfer; seed orchard management (western, southern U.S.); insect/disease pests of seed orchards; seed handling and collection; and the “ABCs of GMOs” to unpack complex jargon related to genomics of forest trees.